Mother Nature's Children
by gisellethegazelle
Summary: The lives of the Four Seasonal Spirits have always been shrouded in mystery. But when their magic is poisoned by a dark magic, Jack, Rapunzel, Merida, and Hiccup embark on a journey that uncovers truths they never would've imagined.
1. Chapter 1: Spring Flowers

Chapter 1: Spring Up

Jack knelt to get a better look at the budding flower. The little plant fought against the cold, pushing its way towards the sun. It should've been open by now. Winter was supposed to be over, but Spring hadn't come through and melted the last bits of Jack's work yet. He tapped the edge of the pale green bud with the hook of his staff, covering it in a thin layer of frost. If Spring wasn't on the way, maybe Jack could enjoy the fun while it lasted.

"Excuse me," came an irritated call. Jack looked up. Rapunzel stood above him with her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised. She was wearing a new dress. She made herself a new one every year. Sometimes she wore extravagant gowns, crafted from outrageously large flower petals. This year, she'd gone with something simpler, a purple bell-shaped flower for a skirt, with a bodice and short sleeves made of smaller purple flower petals.

Jack jumped up, took a step back, and gave a quick bow. Rapunzel rolled her eyes and sat down in front of the frozen flower. She pulled a few strands of her long blond hair free from her flower filled braid, gently wrapping them around the frozen flower. She sang a short song, her hair glowing as she sang, and slowly the ice melted. The flower grew alarmingly fast, blossoming into a beautiful pink tulip.

"Pretty song," Jack said. "I ever ask you where you learned it?"

"No, you haven't. The Man in the Moon taught it to me." Rapunzel stared towards the bright blue sky, where the moon was still faintly visible, even though it was daytime. Her eyes drooped slightly, and so did her lips. She seemed to forget that Jack was there. She just stared up at the moon, as if she was expecting a response.

Like Jack, Rapunzel only knew what the Man in the Moon had told her, which had been only two facts. The first was that her name was Rapunzel, and the second was that song. The first thing Rapunzel did when she was born was sing that song. It was all she knew, all she thought to do. And to her surprise, her little melody made the plants grow, but only those that touched her hair while the endlessly long golden locks.

"You're late, you know," Jack said, crossing his arms. "How very unlike you."

Rapunzel stirred from her trance and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I know you must be _real_ upset about that. I lost track of time. Bunny asked me to help him with Easter, again. This year's going to be a great one!"

Jack leaned towards Rapunzel, using his staff to keep from falling flat on his face. "Has he asked you to be his rabbit queen yet?"

"Oh, stop it," Rapunzel said, giving Jack a push that threw him off balance, causing him to topple backwards. "Oops!"

Jack hopped back up and ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier than it had been before. "I'm okay. Don't worry," He said with a smile. "Just try not to be late anymore."

"But if I'm late, I get to enjoy these lovely conversations of ours." Rapunzel winked at Jack.

"See you next year, Punzie!" Jack laughed and hopped up into the sky.

Jack looked down as he began his flight. He caught a glimpse of Rapunzel, undoing her braid and spreading her hair across the clearing, before he lost sight of her over the tree line. That whole clearing would be full of flowers soon, beautiful, colorful flowers.

Jack almost wished he could stop and see the flowers, but he had to make a quick stop before he got back to work. After all, it was always snowing somewhere. So the wind carried Jack through the skey, across the equator, where Fall was just beginning.


	2. Chapter 2: Fall of Summer

Chapter 2: The Fall of Summer

Jack looked around as he flew across the Southern Hemisphere, confident that he wouldn't have to look very hard. He was certain that if he just listened closely, he'd find who he was looking for.

"Merida, do we have to do this _every_ year?!" Jack hadn't expected to hear Hiccup shouting. Usually it was Merida shouting about her beautiful green leaves turning red or orange.

Jack spotted them standing on a path in a forest. He perched on one of the taller tree branches, hidden among the changing leaves.

"Ah just need one more week, Hiccup. I had a beautiful heat wave planned, full of thunderstorms! Ah wanted to end this season with a bang!" Merida said, waving her arms to illustrate her point. The lightning accents on her dark green summer dress flashed to further emphasize the fact that Merida had a massive and beautiful thunderstorm planned that she wouldn't have a chance to release.

"You _always_ need just one more week. And then, one week turns into one month. We've got a schedule. Let's stick to it." Hiccup turned and started walking away from Merida.

Merida balled her hands into fists and pounded the air, before exhaling deeply and following Hiccup. She continued speaking, trying to persuade Hiccup to stop making the leaves change. But Hiccup ignored her and kept walking down the path, brushing his hands along the tree trunks. Slowly, the leaves began to change from green to a rainbow of Autumn colors. Merida sighed as she watched her hard work disappear.

All of a sudden, Merida stopped short and whirled around, an arrow already aimed. She let go of the string and let the arrow fly. The arrow flew straight for Jack. He threw himself out of the tree to avoid being pierced. He hit the ground with a thud and turned onto his back just in time to see Merida's arrow hit the tree. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck the tree where Merida's arrow had embedded itself. The tree exploded, and pieces of bark flew everywhere. Jack quickly rolled onto his stomach, covering his head with his arms, to protect himself from the shower of bark and branches.

"Would you watch where you're shooting those stupid arrows?" Shouted Jack.

"Well, maybe if you weren't hidin' in the trees, I wouldn't have had to shoot an arrow at you."

"Don't blame me because you're crazy and want to kill me."

"Don't blame you? May I remind you of what happened –"

"Stop it, guys, you're both pretty," Hiccup interjected. He sighed and said, "Look what you've done."

What parts of the tree hadn't been blown apart were now on fire. Jack rolled his eyes and aimed his staff at the flames, putting them out with a quick blast of snow.

"Happy?" Jack asked. Hiccup didn't respond, but Merida stuck her tongue out at the Winter Spirit.

"Merida," Hiccup said. "If I could have a word with Jack, alone."

Merida gave Jack a sideways glance and said, "Suit yourself." Meria cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Angus!"

A small gray cloud descended from the sky, floating low enough for Merida to hop on.

"You know, Angus is horse's name. If you're going to fly on a cloud, you should give it a cooler name." Jack laughed.

Merida ignored Jack's comment. Small lightning bolts flashed and soft thunder boomed inside the cloud as Merida rode away, standing on her little cloud.

Hiccup waited until Merida was out of sight before he spoke again. "So, how is she?" He asked.

"You really could just ask her yourself," replied Jack. "This 'love from afar' bit is getting kind of old."

"I'm not in love with her! I just admire her work."

"Yeah," Jack said rolling his eyes. "You and Bunny, both."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes and shook his head at Jack. "You remember what happened last time I was near Rapunzel."

Jack remembered. He'd been the one to introduce the two of them, which was also the only time they'd ever spoken. Hiccup tried to shake Rapunzel's hand, and he'd nearly killed her. Hiccup wasn't like Jack, Merida, and Rapunzel. The three of them had a way of channeling their power. Jack had his staff, Merida had her arrows, and Rapunzel had her hair. Hiccup didn't have anything. His power flowed freely from his hands.

"You know, I'm sure she forgives you for almost killing her. It has been forty years. Besides, it's only natural to almost kill your opposite. Merida and I do it all the time, and we're still friends... I think..."

"Yeah but the two of you get some kind of sick enjoyment out of it. Personally, I think I'd like to avoid being the reason spring never comes again."

"Whatever floats your boat," Jack replied. He pulled himself up into a nearby tree and hung upside down from one of the low hanging branches. "I still think you're in love with her."

"I'm not... You know what, forget it." Hiccup walked away, touching the trees as he walked.

"Hey, wait up!" Jack shouted as he jumped down from the tree. He caught up with the Autumn Spirit.

Jack followed Hiccup and silently watched him work, hovering a bit too close for Hiccup's taste. Hiccup flicked a nearby tree, causing leaves to come raining down onto himself and Jack.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed. He brushed leaves out of his snow-white hair. He laughed and said, "For a second there, you and I had matching hairstyles."

Hiccup shook his head but couldn't help but laugh as well. It was true. Hiccup always had leaves tangled in his hair. Trying to pull them out didn't help. New ones always appeared to take their place, always different colors, whether they were red, orange, gold, or some strange mix of the three. And, as Jack had discovered and exploited for his own amusement, when the leaves in Hiccup's hair changed color, so did Hiccup's clothes. It wasn't as mischievous as Jack's usual work, but, at first, it'd confused Hiccup so much that Merida got her extra week of summer.

The crashing of thunder high above their heads interrupted their laughter. They stopped and looked towards the sky. Merida's dark cloud came speeding towards them. She didn't wait until the cloud reached the ground before she jumped down and ran to the boys as fast as she could.

"We... have a... problem," Merida said, breathing heavily. She took a deep breath and composed herself. "You need to see this, _both_ of you."


	3. Chapter 3: Rot and Ruin

Jack and Hiccup exchanged confused and worried glances then stared at Merida. Her already wild curls were even more wild and tangled than usual. Her face was red, her green dress torn, and she looked as if she might collapse at any moment.

"Don't just stand there! Let's go!" Merida shouted.

"You go without me," Hiccup said to Jack. He turned away, but Merida grabbed his arm.

"No!" Merida. "You both _need_ to see this. And you need to help."

"Help with what?" Asked Jack.

"There's this mold..." Merida said coldly. "Rot and ruin, desolation. Rapunzel stayed behind to try to fight it, but we can't leave her there alone for long."

"Well then, let's get going." Jack called the wind. "Hiccup, call your ride. You're coming too. Either come willingly, or I'll let Merida drag you there."

Hiccup's shoulders dropped. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. An enormous golden leaf flew in on the Autumn wind and landed on the ground in front of him. The leaf was a simple airship that Hiccup called the Striker, though he wasn't sure why Hiccup hopped on and grabbed the leaf's stem to help keep his balance before the wind picked the Striker up again.

Jack hopped on his staff and took to the sky. Merida did the same with her storm cloud. The three of them raced through the sky, Merida leading the way. Merida flew so fast that Hiccup and Jack fought to keep up. Something must really be wrong if Merida was rushing like this.

They flew over the clearing where Jack and Rapunzel had spoken earlier. Rapunzel was still there, there hair spread all across the clearing. Her mouth was moving frantically.

When they got closer, they could hear Rapunzel singing, "Flowergleamandglowletyourpowershinemaketheclockreversebringbackwhatoncewasmine."

She took a deep breath before continuing with the second verse, singing just as hurriedly as she had the first. Her hair glowed furiously, and every tree and flower that touched the golden locks grew incredibly fast.

Merida landed and her cloud flew off. Hiccup and Jack followed suit, except Jack held on to his staff. Hiccup hung back, standing behind both Jack and Merida, as if to use them as a shield between himself and the Spring spirit. Rapunzel's eyes were closed, but when she heard them land she opened her eyes and stopped signing.

The moment Rapunzel's hair stopped glowing, everything her hair touched died and became covered in a black mold. Tears formed in Rapunzel's eyes and she started to sing again. Her hair glowed brightly and brought the field back to life.

"Punz, you can stop now," said Merida. "You're not doing anythin' but wear yourself out. It's not workin'."

But Rapunel kept on singing, desperate not to let the mold destroy the flowers. Merida stepped forward and grabbed Rapunzel's shoulders. "Hey, snap out of it, stop!" Merida shouted, shaking Rapunzel until she stopped singing and opened her eyes again.

"Rapunzel, what happened here?" Jack asked. "When I left, everything was alive, still covered in ice, but alive."

Rapunzel looked up at Jack with wide, sad eyes. She took a deep breath to steady herself and stood up. "It started right after you left. I was going to melt the clearing, when I noticed that tree." Rapunzel pointed straight ahead, and the other three spun around to see what she was talking about.

The tree was small, so short and skinny that none of them had noticed it on the way into the clearing. But the tree stood out from all the others. The tree's bark was black, though it wasn't burnt, and it wasn't covered in the same black mold as everything else in the clearing. The tree seemed to have grown that way, black and without texture.

"What's wrong with it?" Asked Hiccup, stepping closer to the little tree.

"I don't know," replied Rapunzel. "I thought it was sick, so I tried to heal it, and when I did... this happened. And now everything I touch dies!"

Hiccup knelt down beside the tree. "Careful, Hiccup," Said Jack. "I wouldn't get too close if I were you."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine."

He reached out to touch the tree, but pulled back at the last second. The air around the tree was colder than ice, as if all the warmth had been drained away. Hiccup called Jack over and had Jack put his hand near the tree.

"Wow, that's freezing." Jack stared at the tree, then turned to Hiccup. "That's really, _really_ freezing."

"You wouldn't have had anythin' to do with that, would you Frost?" Asked Merida.

"Do you really think I'd do something like this?" Jack said, motioning towards the moldy clearing. "I'm all about snowballs and fun times, remember?"

"Ah don't see what's so fun about ice." Merida put her hands on her hips.

"And rain is somehow more fun?" Jack asked.

"You can dance in the rain."

"You can play in the snow!"

"Guys!" Rapunzel shouted. "Would you two stop fighting for one minute?"

Jack and Merida stared at Rapunzel, who only exhaled deeply and began to braid her hair. "Something's wrong with my magic, and we need to figure out what. Otherwise I won't be able to bring in Spring. Are you going to help or are you just going to stand there fighting?"

"What do we do?" Asked Merida.

"What if we destroyed the tree?" Hiccup asked, his eyes locked on the smooth black tree trunk.

"I'll give it a go," Merida said as she pushed Hiccup behind her and pulled an arrow from the quiver that hung across back. She drew her bow, hardly needing to aim at such a simple target. She let the arrow fly, and the four spirits watched the arrow embed itself deep into the trunk of the tree. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck the arrow. The shock of the lightning sent all four of them flying backwards, blinded by the flash of light.

When the lightning stopped, Hiccup realized he'd fallen right on top of Rapunzel. Quickly, he scrambled to get up without touching her. He shuffled away quickly, stumbling over himself and almost falling down again, without offering to help Rapunzel back onto her feet. But Rapunzel didn't need his help. She was next to rise, and then Jack followed suit. Merida remained on the ground.

"A little warning would've been nice, Merida," Hiccup said. But when Merida didn't respond, Hiccup and the others looked around, unable to see or hear where Merida was.

Merida had been closest to the blast, and she'd been launched the farthest. The others found her, unconscious, halfway across the clearing.

"Merida?" Rapunzel called as she knelt beside the Summer spirit. Rapunzel brushed a lock of red curly hair out of Merida's face before gently shaking her.

Merida's eyes fluttered open. "Did ah kill it?"

Rapunzel looked up to where the tree still stood as if it'd never been struck by one of Merida's lightning arrows. Rapunzel shook her head, and Merida let out an exasperated sigh.

"I've never been struck by one of mah own arrows before."

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Jack said, only half-joking. Jack looked at the strange, black tree, lifted his staff and tapped the hooked end against the tree.

"No, don't!" Hiccup shouted, but it was too late. The moment Jack's staff touched the tree, Jack screamed and doubled over.

"Fire! I'm on fire, somebody help me!" Jack screamed. Jack tried to cover the ground in snow, but his staff only produced hot sparks. Jack dropped his staff and threw himself onto the cold ground. He flipped onto his back and spread his arms and legs as wide as he could.

Hiccup peered down at him. "Jack, are you okay?"

Jack's face was drenched in sweat, something Hiccup had never seen in the time he'd known the Winter Spirit. But even stranger was the color of Jack skin, which had changed from a translucent white to a color much closer to Hiccup's. And Jack's hair, pieces of it began to change from white to brown. Jack stopped moving and remained silent, his face twisted in agony.

With Rapunzel's help, Merida walked over to where Jack lay on the rotting grass.

"He looks like he's... thawing?" Rapunzel said. "Can he do that?"

Rapunzel knelt down and tried to make Jack open his eyes. But all her shouting at him and shaking him didn't do a thing.

"Something is very wrong here, something magic," said Hiccup. He paused and thought for a moment. "I think I know someone who can help us."

"Aye, and who would that be, then?" asked Merida.

"There's a wizard. His name's Ombric. They say he's the most powerful wizard in the world."

"Who's 'they'?" Rapunzel asked.

"I don't really know, but for Jack's sake, I hope they're right."

Hiccup summoned the Striker, and Rapunzel helped jack onto it. Merida called Angus. With a quick wave of her arms, Rapunzel summoned up a whirlwind of flower petals and stood on top, a trick similar to the one the Sandman used. She'd learned it by watching him, in fact. Rapunzel leaned over the edge of the flowery whirlwind and picked up Jack's staff.

"So, where are we going?" Merida asked.

"To a little village called Santoff Claussen. I think I remember the way," Hiccup replied. He took to the sky, and the others followed.


End file.
